•HOURS: Antonio's serves dinner from 5 to 10 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday, and 5 to 11 on Saturday nights. The bar generally stays open a little later, with last call coming at midnight during the week and as late as 2 a.m. on the weekends.

•ONLINE: Antoniosgalleriacafe.com

•OWNER: Owned and operated by Antonio Gobbo since December 2005. Born and raised in Endicott, Gobbo cut his teeth slinging beer, brandy and whiskey at the Sons of Italy during his late high school years. After college, he gained additional exposure to the restaurant and bar business as a dishwasher and server, but when it comes to the development of premium cocktails, Gobbo is essentially self-taught. "I've picked up things from employees," he says. "I've read books on bartending, everything. I've just absorbed information."

•FOOD: The desire to craft premium cocktails is what inspired Gobbo to open Antonio's Galleria & Café, but they've served food alongside their drinks since the beginning.

"When I first opened, we were a small café with a limited menu," Gobbo says. "We had grilled paninis and salads. And then five years ago, in 2010, we expanded to a full kitchen. So now we have pizza, pasta, steak."

Oh, and gelato. Any guests walking into Antonio's will see it before they see anything else: more than a dozen different flavors of gelato and sorbetto, vivid shades of purple, green and red, creamy chocolates and velvety vanillas, all lined up inside a gleaming, glass-fronted freezer case. All made in house with high-quality, all-natural ingredients. (I can personally recommend the blueberry and lemon, both of which practically burst on the tongue — ask them to put two flavors together in a single cup for a great mix-and-match experience, but make sure and bring your sweet tooth because they do not skimp on portions.)

Still, even with the delicious food and to-die-for desserts, it's the cocktails that continue to be the driving passion behind the business. "I've been all around the world," Gobbo says, "and I haven't seen a place yet that does what we do."

The most popular drink at Antonio’s is the Coco Chanel, a chocolate gelato-based drink.(Photo: Photo by Ed Reese)

•THE FAVORITE: When Gobbo is asked which is the most popular of his creations, he does not hesitate. "The Coco Chanel, by far." The chocolate gelato-based drink is incredibly rich and creamy, and reminded my companion of a still-cold melted chocolate shake (in the best possible way). It was topped with a Jackson Pollock-esque swirling of dark and white chocolate syrup, which surprisingly stayed more or less anchored to the surface rather than melting in. The drinker is thus rewarded with an extra little kiss of chocolate on top of each sip.

•OWNER'S CHOICE: As for his personal preferences, Gobbo is more tentative. "It's hard to pick favorites," he says, "The Mango Bliss is very refreshing. People come in and have two or three of them because they're just so smooth."

But if pressed, Gobbo admits, "I would say my best creation is the Dani-Tini. I'm really proud of it." Inspired by his business partner and the restaurant's manager, Danyell Bier Long, the Dani-Tini boasts a citrusy mix of orange infused vodka, blood orange liqueur and Prosecco, served with a wedge of lemon. The dominant flavor is the crisp, bracing tartness of the blood orange, perfect for savoring while looking over the dinner menu or watching the evening traffic pass outside the dining room windows.

In a place like Endicott, where summer sidewalks are often filled with families walking to dinner or standing in line for Italian ice, and the air is filled with the cheers of little league softball crowds in George W. Johnson Park, it should come as no surprise that crafting drinks with people in mind is the norm at Antonio's. "A lot of our customers and friends have been the inspiration behind these drinks," Gobbo says. "These are our unique creations. You can't get these anywhere else."

•SPECIAL OFFERS: With the extensive list of drinks – a dozen signature cocktails, seven specialty gelato and sorbetto cocktails, and a number of well-executed martini standards - those who stop by Antonio's for a beverage or three may very well need to return several times to get a full sampling of all the restaurant has to offer. The staff knows this, of course, and as such, they have come up with a diabolical plan to keep you coming back for more. As if the cocktails themselves weren't enticing enough, Antonio's also offers a program they call "Martini Masters."

A variety of different martinis is available at Antonio’s, including the Lampone-Tini.(Photo: Photo by Ed Reese)

"We have what we call a Martini Tour," Gobbo says. "You have 30 cocktails, it can be martinis or any of our specialty drinks, and once you get halfway through, you get a complimentary appetizer. Once you've completed the tour, you get your own martini shaker and a T-shirt. So at that point you're a Martini Master." And if you manage to achieve this monumental feat, your final martini will be on the house.

•WINE: Sure, the mixed drinks are good, but what kind of Italian establishment would Antonio's be without a healthy respect for the grape?

"We have a wine club we do every first Wednesday of the month that has become hugely successful," Gobbo says. "We have a lot of fun, we really pack the place."

Launched approximately four years ago, Antonio's highlights a duo or trio of wines — sometimes from the same region or winery, sometimes not — and invites a wine representative to introduce the wines to their guests. Everyone in attendance gets a sample, and complimentary hors d'oeuvres are usually provided, dishes which have been chosen specifically to pair with the wines being tasted.

However, it should be noted that Antonio's wine club is far from just an educational endeavor. Membership comes with some pretty sweet perks. "When you join the wine club you get a wine club card, and anytime you come in you get three dollars off a bottle," Gobbo says. "And the fun thing is that at the end of the wine club meeting, we take everyone's wine club card, draw a couple of winners and we give away a couple bottles. So you can actually come in and win a bottle of wine."

•OTHER CHOICES: In addition to the Coco Chanel and the Dani-Tini, both of which my companion and I can heartily recommend, it can be attested that the Mango Bliss does indeed live up to its name. A zingy combination of mango-infused vodka, mango nectar, and a splash of moscato, the drink is fizzy and sweet without ever being cloying. Served over ice, it is a near-perfect summer drink, dangerously quaffable. The Lampone-Tini was also tasty, featuring raspberry vodka and liqueur blended with cranberry and lime, something of an icy riff on the classic cosmo.

• PRICE RANGE: All of Antonio's signature and classic cocktails are $8.50, with the gelato and sorbetto cocktails ringing in at $8.75. Tuesday nights are officially designated as "Martini Night," during which the restaurant offers a $1.50 discount on premium cocktails and martinis.

You can contact Reese at EMReeseSTC@gmail.com, and follow him on Twitter @edreese.